We use cookies to improve your website experience. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. By closing this message, you
are consenting to our use of cookies.

AI-supported test for very early signs of glaucoma progression

4th May 2020

A new test can detect glaucoma progression 18 months earlier than the current gold standard method, according to results from a UCL-sponsored clinical trial.

The technology, supported by an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, could help accelerate clinical trials, and eventually may be used in detection and diagnostics, according to the Wellcome-funded study published in Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics.

Lead researcher Professor Francesca Cordeiro (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Imperial College London, and Western Eye Hospital Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust) said: “We have developed a quick, automated and highly sensitive way to identify which people with glaucoma are at risk of rapid progression to blindness.”

Glaucoma, the leading global cause of irreversible blindness, affects over 60 million people, which is predicted to double by 2040 as the global population ages. Loss of sight in glaucoma is caused by the death of cells in the retina, at the back of the eye.

The test, called DARC (Detection of Apoptosing Retinal Cells), involves injecting a fluorescent dye that attaches to retinal cells, and illuminates those that are in the process of apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death. The damaged cells appear bright white when viewed in eye examinations – the more damaged cells detected, the higher the DARC count.

One challenge with evaluating eye diseases is that specialists often disagree when viewing the same scans, so the researchers have incorporated an AI algorithm into their method.

In the Phase II clinical trial of DARC, the AI was used to assess 60 of the study participants (20 with glaucoma and 40 healthy control subjects). The AI was initially trained by analysing the retinal scans (after injection of the dye) of the healthy control subjects. The AI was then tested on the glaucoma patients.

Those taking part in the AI study were followed up 18 months after the main trial period to see whether their eye health had deteriorated.

The researchers were able to accurately predict progressive glaucomatous damage 18 months before that seen with the current gold standard OCT retinal imaging technology, as every patient with a DARC count over a certain threshold was found to have progressive glaucoma at follow-up.

“These results are very promising as they show DARC could be used as a biomarker when combined with the AI-aided algorithm,” said Professor Cordeiro, adding that biomarkers – measurable biological indicators of disease state or severity – are urgently needed for glaucoma, to speed up clinical trials as the disease progresses slowly so it can take years for symptoms to change.

“What is really exciting, and actually unusual when looking at biological markers, is that there was a clear DARC count threshold above which all glaucoma eyes went on to progress,” she added.

First author Dr Eduardo Normando (Imperial College London and Western Eye Hospital Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust) said: “Being able to diagnose glaucoma at an earlier stage, and predict its course of progression, could help people to maintain their sight, as treatment is most successful if provided at an early stage of the disease. After further research in longitudinal studies, we hope that our test could have widespread clinical applications for glaucoma and other conditions.”

The team is also applying the test to rapidly detect cell damage caused by numerous conditions other than glaucoma, such as other neurodegenerative conditions that involve the loss of nerve cells, including age-related macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis, and dementia.

The AI-supported technology has recently been approved by both the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the USA’s Food and Drug Administration as an exploratory endpoint for testing a new glaucoma drug in a clinical trial.

The researchers are also assessing the DARC test in people with lung disease, and hope that by the end of this year, the test may help to assess people with breathing difficulties from Covid-19.

DARC is being commercialised by Novai, a newly formed company of which Professor Cordeiro is Chief Scientific Officer.

UCL is a diverse community with the freedom to challenge and think differently.

Our community of more than 41,500 students from 150 countries and over 12,500 staff pursues academic excellence, breaks boundaries and makes a positive impact on real world problems.

We are consistently ranked among the top 10 universities in the world and are one of only a handful of institutions rated as having the strongest academic reputation and the broadest research impact.

We have a progressive and integrated approach to our teaching and research – championing innovation, creativity and cross-disciplinary working. We teach our students how to think, not what to think, and see them as partners, collaborators and contributors.

For almost 200 years, we are proud to have opened higher education to students from a wide range of backgrounds and to change the way we create and share knowledge.

We were the first in England to welcome women to university education and that courageous attitude and disruptive spirit is still alive today. We are UCL.

Novai is a biotechnology start-up, commercialising DARC technology, an exploratory retinal biomarker for use in Age-related Macular Degeneration & glaucoma clinical studies. DARC combines an innovative patented biologic with a state-of-the-art AI algorithm and uses standard imaging equipment to identify cellular level disease activity. DARC has been developed by Professor M Francesca Cordeiro at UCL through Wellcome Trust funding and has been approved as an exploratory biomarker by the FDA & MHRA. Following further analysis of Phase II data, several other indications may follow, including Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Novai is headquartered in London. For more information, please visit our website www.novai.co.uk

Books contacts

A 425-million-year-old millipede fossil found in Scotland is the world's oldest known fossil of an insect or arachnid. Researchers have published their exciting new findings in Historical Biology [Read more...]

3

1

3 days ago

We are excited to announce have integrated into their #manuscriptsubmission processes with . More here: [Read more...]

0

0

5 days ago

Does #pregnancy affect #memory? This article, in the news, compared control participants with those in their third trimester of pregnancy to find out... #Neuropsychology [Read more...]

1

2

9 days ago

What can modern scientists, looking for a #COVID19 vaccine, learn from Edward Jenner? This article looks at the history of smallpox
and vaccination
[Read more...]

0

1

9 days ago

How will #sports be after #COVID19? This article examines role of the media and how it affects sports #socialmedia #golf [Read more...]

2

0

10 days ago

A recent study of people in Singapore who had contracted SARS in the early aughts found they retain “significant levels of neutralizing antibodies” for nine to 17 years after initial infection [Read more...]

0

0

11 days ago

This study found that shields worn by a test subject within 1.8 metres of a cough reduced inhaled influenza virus by 92%, although this protective effect reduced after the cough had dispersed for 30 minutes [Read more...]

2

0

17 days ago

This new research shows that people believe they're less likely than others are to fall for online scams. The cybersecurity study has significant implications as we increasingly work remotely during #COVID19 pandemic [Read more...]

0

1

17 days ago

The number of Asian Hornets, Vespa mandarinia, is on the rise in North America. This study shows just how potentially lethal they are with 30 to 50 people dying each year in Japan alone [Read more...]

0

0

18 days ago

Looking at 315,000 children, this new study out today suggests that childhood obesity raises bladder cancer risk. The findings could help scientists improve their understanding of what triggers bladder cancer [Read more...]